Semester “Spring 2011”

“Mass communication Laws and Ethics (MCM610)”

Assignment solution Marks: 15

Qno.1 should images of dead bodies or war scenes/ victims be a part of live news reporting
on Television? Support your answer with at least two examples from history of reporting.

Qno.2 Keeping in view the current situation of terrorism and resulting chaos among
general public what will be your recommendation to Pakistani TV channels for reporting
and coverage of suicide attacks? Also mention the reasons for your recommendations.

Schedule
Opening Date and Time April 08, 2011
Due Date and Time April 14, 2011

Solution Qno.1:
No, Images of dead bodies or war scenes/Victims should not be part of live news reporting on
television.Reporting live from the scene of a story is an increasingly dominant value in
television news operations today but at times this creates panic in the public. According to
researches heavy content on TV can trigger the behaviors of the public in negatives terms.

A study shows that the symbiotic relationship between terrorism and its media coverage is
explored from the perspective of audience reactions. In an empirical study, effects of television
broadcasts of terrorism on viewers' emotional and attitudinal reactions are examined.
Participants were 300 Israeli adults randomly allocated to terrorism or violent non terrorism
broadcasts. Anxiety, anger, stereotypes, and enemy perception were measured prior and
subsequent to media exposure. Findings revealed higher levels of both emotional and attitudinal
measures consequent to the terrorism versus non terrorism media exposure. These findings
reflect the significant emotional and attitudinal impact on the audience of terrorism's
mechanism of self-empowerment via the media.

The public get depressed when they are shown such images again and again.
Uncertainty and hopelessness prevails in the nation as a whole. This effects the national unity
as the society is deeply suppressed by the day to day scenes of dead bodies/Victims. The
Academy of Pediatrics says “More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude
that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain
children, desensitizes them to violence and makes them believe that the world is a ‘meaner and
scarier’ place than it is.” If children begin to think that this type of violence is normal behavior
these thoughts are often said to be difficult to change later on in life.

Examples: Huge suicide bomb blast in Peshawar kisa khwani Bazar, Peshawar and suicide
bomb blast on Namaz-a-Janaza in swat are the most significant incident in the history of
reporting (Pakistan) that created panic in the nation.

References:
S.Michelle & S.Anat (2008) The Drama of Media Coverage of Terrorism: Emotional and
Attitudinal Impact on the Audience Studies in Conflict & Terrorism

Tompkins, A. (2003) The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children

Note: Comments in favor and against the asked question should be marked accordingly
keeping the quality of answer intact.

Solution Qno.2
The Pakistani TV channels have to follow the below criteria for reporting and coverage of
suicide attacks.

1. Report with objectivity

2. Don’t take snaps of injured crawling
3. Don’t immediately break the News showing the number of killed and injured rather start
from a less number and then at later stages give the complete figure after complete
confirmation
4. Minimize harm
5. Avoid sensationalism
6. Don’t misrepresent the facts
7. Report but keep the national interest intact
8. Don’t exaggerate
9. Don’t make assumptions until fair investigations etc
The reasons for the recommendations are
1. The media sensationalize
2. Pakistan is facing through hard times such coverage wouldn’t help the nation cause
3. Media creating hype
4. Pakistani nation needs peace and solution to issues media creates uncertainty